Hi there everyone. My wife and I are looking to trade in our 97 F150 Ext. Flareside 4.6L V8 truck and get into an SUV. We don't tow, we do a lot of highway driving and well mostly my wife will be trucking around with our 20 year old daughter.
Here is what we have narrowed our choices to:

I preferred the handling of the Jeep to that of the Exploder, as well as appearance etc - although that was in older models, but I still prefer Jeeps to Fords.

The 4.0L is an I6, not a V6. It should get a bit better mpg than the V8, but the V8 makes better power, which may not matter if you don't tow. Both are great engines and should last a couple hundred thousand miles with reasonable maintenance.

Give 'em both a thorough test drive & see what you think.

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1995 5.2 ZJ Sold... but still in the family
Stocker

Thanks for the input....my gut feel is that the Jeep is a much better built vehicle than the ford and will have a much better reliability track record. Right now it is like this....My wife likes the Exploder and I like the Jeep...lol....lets see who wins....lol
I just need to convince her that the jeep benefits out-weigh the Ford.

Check out the average depreciation for each. I may be wrong, but I believe the Exploder will depreciate quicker than the GC.
The Jeep may cost a little more now for comparable 'features' but it will maintain its value down the road a lot better than the Ford. You can use that to convince your wife.

I too was down to the Explorer and the Grand Cherokee 2004 Models and after extensive research and questioning of Jeep and Ford Owners I chose the Jeep and made the right decision. The jeep is a bit pricier but the features far exceed the Ford and knowing a person that works for Ford theres a reason why they call it the EXPLODER. Even he who works on them day in and day out would never buy one. There are alot of problems with them down the road Dont be drawn to the price or looks of the exploder I almost made that mistake also..